Chapter 25

Let’s go back to noon.

Pei Shengcai, who failed to win over the team doctor in one breath, was heading home feeling down.

Seeing her husband like this, Cheng Yuezhi knew he was in a bad mood and asked, “What’s wrong? Did the team make you angry again?”

Pei Shengcai shook his head. It wasn’t that they angered him, but he was disappointed that they didn’t reach their goal.

He happened to pass by the clinic on business and heard some noise, so he went over to check.

He saw that the team doctor was not very skilled.

But he had learned from the barefoot doctor, making his claim about his abilities more credible than Jiang Xi’s, who had learned from an old doctor and on her own.

Zhou Xin and Lin Tao insisted on Li Quan as the team doctor, while others tried to mediate, leaving Pei Shengcai unsure how to handle it.

After all, he didn’t have the final say in the team.

Especially this week, Xin had connections in the commune.

He had to be careful.

It would be a lie to say that after becoming the team leader, he didn’t want to advance.

He wanted to build a good brigade where everyone had enough food, clothing, and medical care.

In life, these are the basic needs. If he fulfilled them and a position opened up in the commune, he could become a cadre and move to the city.

But now, with Jiang Xi’s praise everywhere, he hoped to benefit but faced obstacles from others.

It’s no wonder he was in a bad mood.

Pei Shengcai didn’t speak, but his sad expression made Cheng Yuezhi uneasy. She poured him a cup of tea and asked, “What’s the matter? Tell me.”

Pei Shengcai hesitated for a moment, feeling he couldn’t manage the people on his team. He felt a bit embarrassed and didn’t know what to say.

“Why are you being so polite with me?” Cheng Yuezhi patted him on the shoulder.

Pei Shengcai then explained what had happened and, feeling frustrated, said, “Do you think they’re crazy? Once this is done, won’t it be their achievement? They want to hire a cunning person as the team doctor, which makes everyone uncomfortable.”

Cheng Yuezhi frowned, also annoyed by this, but she became even angrier when it came to her husband. She said, “Since they don’t want to kick us out, we can just make Doctor Jiang the village doctor for our village. After all, we have a lot of people in our village.”

She always thought in a straightforward way, and such simple thinking isn’t always good for dealing with people.

But sometimes, simple ideas lead to unexpected results.

For example, she thought having Jiang Xi as the team doctor was a good idea before.

If Zhou Xin and the others hadn’t stopped it, everyone would be happy now.

This time, her words gave Pei Shengcai an idea.

Since Jiang Xi can’t be the team doctor, they could make her the village doctor. The villagers would pay her in work points. Even if it’s just work points, she might only get five at most.

Pei Shengcai said, “Your idea is good, but she might not be satisfied with it.”

Cheng Yuezhi said calmly, “What’s the big deal? There are other ways to earn money. We have a doctor, but the other villages don’t. Besides, who would dare see Doctor Li after what happened? With a village doctor here, people will definitely prefer to come here. Then, they will need to pay money to see the doctor. It’s a collective effort, and the money earned will be shared with our village. Doctor Jiang will also get 50%. This income is more than being a team doctor.”

Pei Shengcai’s eyes lit up, and he excitedly patted his wife’s shoulder: “Your idea is really good!”

“That hurts!” Cheng Yuezhi pushed his hand away, but seeing how happy he was, she smiled too. “I’m talking to you. You always think about the team, but the team doesn’t think about you. Forget it; you’re already old. Don’t think too much.”

Pei Shengcai smiled awkwardly, feeling a bit lonely.

But regarding the doctor’s situation, now that there was a plan, he felt better and didn’t want to waste time. After eating at home, he quickly went out to discuss the matter with the villagers.

_

A brigade manages three or four villages, with a total population of about 500 people.

Of course, as the captain, Pei Shengcai couldn’t directly manage all 500 people; otherwise, it would be too much trouble. So, there were five squadron leaders ^[1]who are responsible for different groups within the brigade., and under the squadron leaders, there were team leaders.

That’s too segmented.

Pei Shengcai was looking for the squadron leader of the brigade, who also happened to be the village chief of their respective villages.

The village chief manages more than a hundred people. There are dozens of households in Peijia Village. Each household has at least four people, with the largest having over a dozen. Therefore, the total population is just over two hundred, making it one of the largest villages in the area.

So, their village has two squadron leaders: the chief and deputy village cadres.

Pei Shengcai took one squadron leader and went to find the other. The three of them held a small meeting. An hour later, the two squadron leaders set out and began to mobilize the villagers.

Apart from anything else, they had personally experienced Jiang Xi’s medical skills.

If this works, then maybe, just as the captain’s wife said, people from the surrounding villages will come to their village to see a doctor, and they can make money. A little bit will add up, and the village will have more income.

The extra income can be used to buy meat, cloth, and other things for the villagers. Everyone will benefit, and it will be a good thing.

But the reality is still somewhat difficult.

The main thing is that if it succeeds, Jiang Xi needs work points. Five work points a day. Even so, she needs more than a thousand work points a year. How expensive is that?

You have to know that farmers don’t have work to do every day.

For example, now everyone is idle, and there are more than a hundred days like this in a year.

Even if the remaining time is worth eight work points, in a whole year, there are only more than 2,000 work points, but that is for people who work hard.

It’s not that serious, just over a thousand yuan. She is equivalent to a strong man in the village. She has to sit in the clinic without being exposed to the sun or rain. It makes people feel too unbalanced.

Naturally, everyone was reluctant to give up. After all, the brigade could still go on business trips, but in the village, how could there be so many work points to give out? Maybe they had to share some of it.

This resulted in the three of them being so busy that the final results were almost unnecessary to look at.

Evening.

The three of them gathered together with worried faces, doubting their decision: “I’m afraid this won’t work, right?”

Pei Shengcai said, embarrassed, “I didn’t think of this. I was busy with the team’s affairs before, so I got used to it.”

The two squadron leaders quickly said, “It’s normal. We didn’t expect it.”

“But they are talking about this issue. How about not giving work points? Just give money?”

“How much would be appropriate?” Pei Shengcai asked.

The doctors in the town start with a monthly salary of 20 to 30 yuan, and experienced doctors can make 50 or 60 yuan. They can’t afford that.

Anything less would be meaningless.

A squadron leader said, “Why don’t we ask Doctor Jiang?”

Pei Shengcai slapped his thigh and said, “I forgot. Let’s go ask her if it’s suitable. If it’s okay, we’ll do it. If not, then forget it.”

“Okay, let’s go first.”

A squadron leader hesitated and asked, “Why don’t we go back and have a meal first?”

The other squadron leader quickly shook his head: “It’s already this late, let’s just finish our work first. Otherwise, I’ll be thinking about it all night.”

“That’s right.” Pei Shengcai nodded: “If it works, come to my house for dinner tomorrow. Thank you for your hard work today.”

As the three of them talked, they quickly headed towards Pei’s house.

As soon as they stepped into the Pei family’s courtyard, they smelled a lingering aroma of meat, and then heard each other’s stomachs growling.

What delicious food did the Pei family have for dinner?

It’s already this late, but the smell hasn’t gone away yet.

It made them all hungry.

The three of them complained in their hearts and became more certain that if the salary was too low, the young daughter-in-law of the Pei family might really not do the job. Although the Pei family had some issues, they still had a previous foundation and lived better than most people in the village.

The three men came in together, looking quite formal.

Pei’s mother put down what she was doing and went to the main room to see what was happening.

Jiang Xi asked her two sisters to go back to their room first, and she invited the three men to sit down and poured them tea.

Father Pei asked, “What’s going on? Do you three really need to come together?”

Pei Shengcai smiled and said, “It’s not a big deal.” He pointed towards Zhoujia Village and said helplessly, “You must have heard about what happened today. I was worried about sending the villagers there for medical treatment. But then I thought, your daughter-in-law is quite capable. I haven’t assigned a position for the team doctor yet, and I’ve always felt guilty about it. So I thought, since we have so many people in our village, why don’t we have our own village doctor?”